"The first victory we can claim is that our hearts are free of hatred. Hence we say to those who persecute us and who try to dominate us: ‘You are my brother. I do not hate you, but you are not going to dominate me by fear. I do not wish to impose my truth, nor do I wish you to impose yours on me. We are going to seek the truth together’. THIS IS THE LIBERATION WHICH WE ARE PROCLAIMING."
Oswaldo José Payá Sardiñas (2002)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Washington Post Demands Probe into Cuban Dissidents deaths

The Post’s View

Obama administration should urge a probe of Oswaldo Payá death

NELSON MANDELA was locked up on
Robben Island. Andrei Sakharov was exiled to Gorky. Vaclav Havel was
thrown into a Prague jail cell. Aung San Suu Kyi was repeatedly placed
under house arrest. All of these courageous, dissident voices were
muffled at some time by authoritarian regimes, but in the end, they
found their way back to freedom. Oswaldo Payá of Cuba never got that
chance.

Mr. Payá, who pioneered the Varela Project, a petition drive in
2002 seeking the guarantee of political freedom in Cuba, was killed in a
car wreck July 22, along with a youth activist, Harold Cepero. The
driver of the vehicle, Ángel Carromero, a Spaniard, was convicted and
imprisoned on charges of vehicular homicide; in December, he was
released to Spain. He told us in an interview published on the opposite
page last week that the car carrying Mr. Payá was rammed from behind by a
vehicle with government license plates. His recollections suggest that
Mr. Payá died not from reckless driving but from a purposeful attempt to
silence him — forever.

Rosa Maria Payá and Regis Iglesias

On Wednesday, his daughter, Rosa Maria Payá, appeared before
the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. Speaking for the group U. N.
Watch, Ms. Payá presented an appeal
signed by 46 activists and political leaders from around the world,
urging the United Nations to launch an international and independent
investigation into Mr. Payá’s death. The signatories declared, “Mounting
and credible allegations that the Cuban government may have been
complicit in the murder of its most prominent critic, a leading figure
in the human rights world, cannot go ignored by the international
community.”

The Varela Project was summarily and arbitrarily
crushed by Fidel Castro. Ms. Payá told the council that Cuban
authorities imprisoned the majority of its leaders. She said that
Yosvani Melcho Rodriguez, 30, has spent three years in prison as
punishment for his mother being a member of the movement with Mr. Payá.
Ms.
Payá was interrupted in Geneva by the Cuban representative, who accused
her of being a “mercenary who has dared to come to this room.” His
attempt to silence her drew support from China, Russia, Pakistan,
Nicaragua and Belarus. The U.S. representative spoke up for her right to
address the group. She was then allowed to finish.

After Mr.
Payá’s death, the White House paid tribute to him, saying, “We continue
to be inspired by Payá’s vision and dedication to a better future for
Cuba, and believe that his example and moral leadership will endure.”
When pro-democracy activists were arrested and beaten at his funeral,
the White House again spoke up. But in the past week, since Mr.
Carromero’s interview was published, the administration has not uttered a
word. What if it had been Sakharov, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mandela or Havel
who was run off the road? Would it have said nothing? At this critical
juncture, with new information at hand, the United States ought not to
be complicit in silence about who killed Oswaldo Payá.